When Mike Smith came in to take over the Buccaneers defense, the fan base was excited. During the Lovie Smith era, one of the biggest complaints was the proverbial “square peg, round hole” concept. Lovie would too often try to fit the players he had into his pre-formulated scheme. He seemed unable to adapt the plan to best suit the player, and the team suffered. Mike Smith was known to be the exact opposite. He would adapt his scheme to best fit his players.
It took about half of the 2016 season for the defense to come together, but when it did, we all saw the potential greatness.